Outboard power steering is necessary for boats with motors over 50 horsepower, making turning and maintaining a straight line easier. The hydraulic system has replaced the older cable and pulley system, and is especially important for dual outboard configurations. An electric hydraulic pump can also be used to turn a recoil motor with the boat’s steering wheel.
Outboard power steering is an option offered on power boats. This system uses a hydraulic cylinder connected to the outboard motor and allows the operator to steer the boat with less effort. The outboard power steering uses the ram from the hydraulic cylinder to push and pull the outboard in conjunction with turning the steering wheel of the boat. Like power steering in a car, outboard power steering makes turning the engine from side to side a breeze. The torque applied to the steering action of a powerboat is tremendous, and without outboard power steering, turning a boat or simply maintaining a straight line would be nearly impossible at full speed.
Boats using small outboard motors less than 50 horsepower can operate without outboard power steering. Many of these boats are even equipped with a rudder, which means they don’t have a steering wheel. With outboard motors over 50 horsepower, outboard power steering is required. Older boats used a system of cables and pulleys that allowed the operator to have a mechanical advantage when turning the large outboard motors. Modern boats use the hydraulic system, which is usually powered by an electric hydraulic pump motor.
In the same way that hydraulic trim and tilt features have replaced manual systems, outboard hydraulic steering has replaced the earlier system of pulleys and cables to turn large outboard motors. Even with the lever use of the pulley and cable system, the hydraulic cylinder assisted turning mechanism allows for much smoother and easier turning. On multiple outboard configurations, outboard power steering is a must. The torque steering produced by twin outboard motor setups renders any type of steering other than hydraulic power steering useless at best.
In a dual outboard configuration, two equally sized outboard motors are teamed together for greater power potential. While this type of setup will typically pair outboards with counter-spinning propellers to match the steering torque the engines will produce, hydraulic outboard steering helps the operator steer large outboards as they cut through the water. As with a unique external configuration, the hydraulic steering also makes the task of keeping the boat in a straight line much easier.
Using an electric hydraulic pump to drive the power steering makes it possible to turn a recoil motor with the boat’s steering wheel with the primary outboard off. A kicker motor is a smaller outboard motor used primarily for fishing in a fishing boat. These small outboards are typically 20 horsepower or less and are usually linked to the main outboard through the use of a tie rod. As the large engine is rotated, the tie rod acts like a tie rod in a car and also rotates the recoil motor.
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